From ambiance to location, here’s everything you need to know about Animal, Brooklyn’s hottest new gay bar
- Address: 307 Meeker Avenue
- Neighborhood: Williamsburg
- Hours: 2PM – 4AM Saturday – Sunday, 4PM – 4AM Monday – Friday
- Best Time to Go: Friday night after The Exley, Saturday afternoon
- Vibe: Day-to-night perfection
- Website: N/A
- Instagram: @animal.nyc
Overview of Animal:
Think of Animal as the sister bar to The Exley, which is just around the corner from it on the border of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. In fact, since the months since it’s opened, making the two-block pilgrimage from The Exley to Animal has become a sort of rite of passage for a weekend out in gay New York.
Spend some time sipping vodka sodas at the Exley mid-afternoon before walking over to Animal, where you can still enjoy an indoor-outdoor moment as the sun starts to go down and the dance floor heats up. One of Animal’s most appealing offerings is its varied setting: It offers an open-air patio, an outdoor bar, an indoor bar and dancefloor. It’s very much giving Stefon, “This is New York’s hottest club, and it has everything.” (Including, you should know, a new $10 cover when you show up after 10 PM on the weekends.)
Animal was conceived as a place where gays could mix and mingle while sipping on slightly elevated cocktails — you can order things like a negroni, a mezcal margarita or an old fashioned here and not feel weird — but, in reality, you’re just as likely to see everyone drinking vodka and tequila sodas just like any other gay bar in the city.
Another way that Animal differentiates itself from other gay bars like Playhouse or Metropolitan is the music, which is spun by a rotating slate of DJs who favor wordless dance music over straightforward pop.
Why go to Animal?
Animal attracts a fun, see-and-be-seen gay New York crowd that feels equally sourced between Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. It’s a rare, exciting day-to-night option for queer nightlife goers, and it’s retained its allure since it opened in spring 2024. If you want that elevated gay cocktail moment, you can come during the week, but if you want something a little scenier, come during the weekend. It offers the best of both worlds.
Ambiance of Animal?
The ambiance at Animal completely depends on when you’re there. You can get a vibey daytime moment with a demure cocktail as the sun bursts through the indoor bar’s skylight, or you can feel a little naughtier as the bar’s signature red lights turn on at night and the music pulses louder as you sip on a gay water.
Animal not your thing? Here are other gay bars nearby:
- Metropolitan
- The Exley
- The Rosemont
